A Small Conversation
by Esprit D'escalier
Summary: Sheena and Kratos discuss the character that is Lloyd on their walk to find him.


_Spoilers: If you haven't gotten the sixth member of your team yet (In which case you shouldn't be reading any fanfiction at all)._

_Summary: Kratos and Sheena have a talk on their way to find Lloyd._

_ Takes Place: While Kvar is talking to Lloyd about his mother in the anime, right before Kratos and Sheena show up and help him out._

_I just thought it was an interesting combination to have Sheena and Kratos working together, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would talk about. Hence this came through._

* * *

"Who is there?" Kratos turned around, pulling out his sword as he did so. He stared into the infinite darkness until he finally saw a figure come closer.

"It's just me." Sheena Fujibayashi walked out of the shadows so that Kratos could see her. Corrine followed closely behind, staying at Sheena's side just to show that he was prepared to stay beside her no matter what.

Kratos lowered his sword, and then after a few more seconds of silence, he put it in his sheath and faced back in his original direction, walking away from where the female ninja stood.

"Hey, wait up, already!" Sheena yelled at him with a slight temper, running to catch up with him.

"Why did you come?" Kratos talked without turning to face the person who he was directing the question to.

"I came for the same reason you did, to find Lloyd." Sheena said with the slightest bit of irritation in her voice, possibly from the fact that Kratos had walked on without her, or from the fact that she thought it was obvious why she was there.

"And why did you decide to follow me?" Kratos asked this time, turning his head the slightest bit so that he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

"Because you appear to know where you are going." Sheena replied back.

Kratos turned his face forwards. "Is that supposed to mean anything?"

"No, not really. I just figure it isn't the best option for me to get lost alone in here."

"Then why didn't you tell me you were coming with me?"

Sheena crossed her arms, and a somewhat annoyed expression appeared on her face. Corrine looked up at her with curious eyes, wanting to know why Sheena was getting so angry. "Well, we're not exactly the closest of friends in the world. I mean, I was trying to kill the person you were hired to protect, you know."

"I forgive pretty easily." Kratos replied almost as soon as Sheena was done talking, not giving her a chance to think over what she should say next.

"Really?" Sheena eased her face up a little bit, feeling that they might be able to get a real conversation going now. "I never really saw you as one of the easy-to-trust types."

Kratos did not say anything, and instead, just continued to walk ahead.

"Do you trust me, then?" Sheena let her arms drop to her side, and she stood in the middle of the pathway, waiting for his answer.

Kratos kept on walking on without her, not saying a word. Sheena was about to turn back and leave, when Kratos answered her, "I do." He continued to walk on ahead, not bothering to stop and wait for Sheena to catch up.

"Why do you trust me?" Sheena smiled the slightest bit.

"I trust you because if you choose to betray the group or me then I can defeat you easily." Kratos said it with only the slightest bit of emotion.

Sheena lost her smile and start to think that maybe he did not care whether she betrayed him or not. "Well... I guess that's a good reason."

Kratos 'hmphed', and Sheena just walked behind him silently. Then, surprisingly, Kratos spoke up, "What about you? Do you trust me?"

"It depends," Sheena replied, and if the 19 year-old could see the red-head's face, she would see that his expression changed the slightest bit. "Are you asking if I feel it's safe for the group to trust you, or if I feel that I personally trust you."

"Whichever one you are willing to answer is fine with me."

"Well, as for the group, I feel you can definitely be trusted. As for me personally trusting you, it all depends on the situation." Sheena raised her right arm and flipped her hand over so that her palm was facing the curved ceiling, showing that there were two sides to the matter. "I can't trust someone who doesn't trust me, and I know that if I was alone with the chosen, or if what happened next depended on me doing something by myself, then you wouldn't trust me."

"Indeed."

The expression Sheena had had while she was weighing both sides of the hypothetical situation disappeared and was replaced by a fully dismayed face.

The ninja looked on behind her, considering whether she should just leave or not. Instead, she decided she would still follow, most likely because she knew she would get lost if she left him.

The two continued on in silence, with only the footfalls of Kratos making any sound.

"Do you trust me right now?" It was Kratos who posed the question.

"Yes, I guess so."

"Then why do you feel the need to tag-a-long? I'm sure that they could use help back with the prisoners. Do you not believe that I can do this alone?" The tone in the man's voice did not change much from his other sentences. The only difference was the slight upraise in his voice at the end of each question.

" I believe you can do it alone." Sheena mumbled, feeling even more so than before that she was not wanted here. "It's just... I don't feel comfortable back there. I think Raine hates me."

"That may be true."

"You know something? You're great at helping others with their self-esteem." The girl said it in an angered voice, finally showing her companion how she felt about the dialogue being exchanged.

"Sheena..." The little Summon Spirit of Heart, Corrine, looked up at his life-long friend worriedly.

Kratos did not say anything in reply.

Sheena spoke again, "Why-"

"I'm sorry." Kratos interrupted her before she could complete what she was going to say. "I did not intend to offend."

Sheena spoke, "The other reason why I am going is because I feel Lloyd really trusts me, I feel closer to him than the others."

"Collet trusts you."

"Yes, she does, but Lloyd was the one to ask me to join the team. And he was the one that yelled to me when I was hurt. And he was the one that tried to talk to me when I first joined you guys, right before I admitted my true intentions. I feel I owe him something for all that." Sheena looked down, a slight look of shame on her face.

" I see."

Sheena looked up at him, hoping to see the expression on his face to se if he was sincere or not, but instead, she was just faced with the back of his head. "So, why are you going to help Lloyd?"

"Well, someone had to. Also, I would be of little use helping prisoners. I am... not much one for talking to people." Kratos sad the last part tentatively, as if he had to be careful not to offend anyone with it.

"I figured that."

"Hmph."

"I meant the first part," Sheena said, raising her arms defensively. "It's just, I figured that was your reason because everybody else was busy helping the prisoners… and me, well, I was just…"

"You felt like a third wheel?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Get ready." Kratos said stopping and pulling out his sword.

"What, why?" Sheena bumped into him from behind, and stumbled backwards a bit when his stance did not change.

"You know, for an assassin, you are very clumsy."

Sheena caught her balance at the last second. Her face was flustered. "Yeah, well…" The clumsy assassin didn't bother to answer, and instead, she just took out her spell cards. "I don't see any enemies here."

"Through this door." Kratos pointed towards the door right in front of him.

"Oh."

"Are you ready?"

Sheena took in a short breath of air. "Yeah, I'm ready."


End file.
